The Wall Street Journal points out that when it comes to putting a roadblock in the way of Vladimir Putin’s aggression, America’s most ready course is to export what we produce – namely, natural gas:

“The U.S. oil and gas revolution has handed President Obama a powerful policy tool, and one way to wield it would be for the Energy Department to approve immediately the 25 applications for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals.”

The shale boom, thanks to hydraulic fracturing on private land that’s tapped incredibly vast resources of natural gas, has put our country on the road to energy independence. That gives us options in foreign policy. Even the reduction in American gas imports has lowered world natural gas prices – hurting Russia, which relies on gas and oil exports to support its imperial dreams. The Journal:

“Europe has an extensive pipeline network, which means that U.S. gas making it to any port of entry would reduce overall European dependence on Russia. Spain has an LNG receiving terminal that can add fuel to the European pipeline, while countries like Lithuania (100% dependent on Russian gas) are racing to get a floating LNG import terminal online by the end of the year.

“The ambassadors of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia recently wrote to House Speaker John Boehner with a plea for more gas, noting that technology allows them to reverse gas flows back to Ukraine. In 2013 alone, Ukraine imported from Poland and Hungary almost two billion cubic meters of gas. With Russia unilaterally raising gas prices on the Ukraine, the more ability Europe has to undermine those price hikes, the more limited the Russian influence.”

It’s pretty simple: Our options are not just the terrible choice of make war or do nothing. As the Journal puts it, “Every dollar of U.S. gas that flows to the world market is one less dollar flowing to Mr. Putin's economy and his energy blackmail racket. Mr. Putin would get the message that even if he can swallow Ukraine, his future leverage will decline.”